Kodak TMY revised

[Roger Hicks]

I've just had a press release (dated October 9th) from the Great Yellow Father (well, from Ketchum anyway) saying that T-Max 400 has been revised for finer grain and higher sharpness, making it (they say) the finest-grained, sharpest ISO 400 film on the market. I'm looking forward to trying it...

 

[Schlapp]

.. and that would be great to read in B&W mag [UK]

 

[tac]

Here's a cite:

http://www.finanznachrichten.de/nachrichten-2007-10/artikel-9184234.asp

and another, same thing;

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/071009/20071009005282.html?.v=1

 

[johnsexton]

New TMY Futher Information

Indeed, Kodak did announce a new and improved T-MAX 400 film this morning. I personally find this exciting news, as it demonstrates that film is still “alive” at Kodak, and in fact they have been working on improving their existing silver halide emulsions.

I've had the opportunity to use this film extensively, in 120 size, for the past month. Though my primary film, since its introduction, has been Kodak Professional T-MAX 100, I have also used T-MAX 400 when needed for extremely low light situations, or when wind or other source of movement is a concern. In my experience the updated version of the T-MAX 400 film is noticeably finer grain than its predecessor. Kodak states that the new Professional T-MAX 400 is "now the world's sharpest, finest grain 400 speed black and white film."

Here is a link to the web page where you can find the Kodak press release announcing the new T-MAX 400 film:
http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=2509&pq-locale=en_US&_requestid=6620

I have been processing the new T-MAX 400 120 film in D-76 1+1 for 7 minutes at 68©F with manual agitation for 5 seconds every 30 seconds. This processing procedure has produced negatives of excellent quality for enlarging with a diffusion light source. The grain structure has a smoothness that to my eye I have never experienced in a film of this speed.

Kodak will be distributing free samples of the film (35mm size only) to those attending PhotoPlus Expo in New York City, October 18-20, at the Jacob Javits Center. In addition, Kodak is presenting a panel discussion, "Black and White Photography in the 21st Century," on Friday, October 19th from 3:00 - 4:45 PM. This event is free to all those attending the PhotoPlus Expo show, and will be held in the Presentation Theater in he Jacob Javits Center. I'm pleased to be a part of this panel discussion, along with photographers Michael Crouser, Liz Gilbert, and Kristen Ashburn. All of us will be discussing our current work and our decisions in terms of why we work in black and white photography. There will be a drawing at the conclusion of the event, where attendees will have the opportunity to win silver gelatin prints from each of the four panel members. If you're attending PhotoPlus, it would be great to see you at the panel discussion.

In addition, I will be in the Kodak booth to visit with people and sign books at the following times:

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18
11:00 am - 2:00 pm

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19
10:30 am - 12:00 pm

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20
10:00 am - 1:00 pm

I hope to have the opportunity to make some new APUG friends from among APUG members, as well as visit with old friends during the PhotoPlus Expo.

I'm on the road traveling right now, so I won't have much access to the APUG forum or email until after I return from PhotoPlus.

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

Indeed, Kodak did announce a new and improved T-MAX 400 film this morning. I personally find this exciting news, as it demonstrates that film is still “alive” at Kodak, and in fact they have been working on improving their existing silver halide emulsions.

I've had the opportunity to use this film extensively, in 120 size, for the past month. Though my primary film, since its introduction, has been Kodak Professional T-MAX 100, I have also used T-MAX 400 when needed for extremely low light situations, or when wind or other source of movement is a concern. In my experience the updated version of the T-MAX 400 film is noticeably finer grain than its predecessor. Kodak states that the new Professional T-MAX 400 is "now the world's sharpest, finest grain 400 speed black and white film."

Here is a link to the web page where you can find the Kodak press release announcing the new T-MAX 400 film:
http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=2509&pq-locale=en_US&_requestid=6620

I have been processing the new T-MAX 400 120 film in D-76 1+1 for 7 minutes at 68©F with manual agitation for 5 seconds every 30 seconds. This processing procedure has produced negatives of excellent quality for enlarging with a diffusion light source. The grain structure has a smoothness that to my eye I have never experienced in a film of this speed.

Kodak will be distributing free samples of the film (35mm size only) to those attending PhotoPlus Expo in New York City, October 18-20, at the Jacob Javits Center. In addition, Kodak is presenting a panel discussion, "Black and White Photography in the 21st Century," on Friday, October 19th from 3:00 - 4:45 PM. This event is free to all those attending the PhotoPlus Expo show, and will be held in the Presentation Theater in he Jacob Javits Center. I'm pleased to be a part of this panel discussion, along with photographers Michael Crouser, Liz Gilbert, and Kristen Ashburn. All of us will be discussing our current work and our decisions in terms of why we work in black and white photography. There will be a drawing at the conclusion of the event, where attendees will have the opportunity to win silver gelatin prints from each of the four panel members. If you're attending PhotoPlus, it would be great to see you at the panel discussion.

In addition, I will be in the Kodak booth to visit with people and sign books at the following times:

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18
11:00 am - 2:00 pm

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19
10:30 am - 12:00 pm

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20
10:00 am - 1:00 pm

I hope to have the opportunity to make some new APUG friends from among APUG members, as well as visit with old friends during the PhotoPlus Expo.

I'm on the road traveling right now, so I won't have much access to the APUG forum or email until after I return from PhotoPlus.

Kodak states: We have also incorporated a UV barrier into the new 35 mm and 120-format films to prevent inadvertent backside static exposure. These films may look a bit more hazy when wet, similar to T-MAX 100 Film, which uses the same technology. The haze will disappear as the film dries. The new T-MAX 400 films fix the same, so don't confuse this haze with poor fixing.

Fortunately for those of us who are sheet film users: Note that the new sheet film does not employ any UV barrier, since large-format sizes are often contact printed onto UV-sensitive materials.

 

[Keith Tapscott.]

Indeed, Kodak did announce a new and improved T-MAX 400 film this morning. I personally find this exciting news, as it demonstrates that film is still “alive” at Kodak, and in fact they have been working on improving their existing silver halide emulsions.

I've had the opportunity to use this film extensively, in 120 size, for the past month. Though my primary film, since its introduction, has been Kodak Professional T-MAX 100, I have also used T-MAX 400 when needed for extremely low light situations, or when wind or other source of movement is a concern. In my experience the updated version of the T-MAX 400 film is noticeably finer grain than its predecessor. Kodak states that the new Professional T-MAX 400 is "now the world's sharpest, finest grain 400 speed black and white film."

I have been processing the new T-MAX 400 120 film in D-76 1+1 for 7 minutes at 68©F with manual agitation for 5 seconds every 30 seconds. This processing procedure has produced negatives of excellent quality for enlarging with a diffusion light source. The grain structure has a smoothness that to my eye I have never experienced in a film of this speed.

Will Kodak have a seperate technical data sheet for this film, or will they update the existing one to incorporate the new ISO 400 film?

 

[jp80874]

Will we be seeing something nice in a size 7x17 yellow?

John Powers

 

[johnsexton]

New T-MAX 400 Additional Info

Here is a link to some additional information from Kodak about the new T-MAX 400 film:
http://www.kodak.com/global/plugins/acrobat/en/professional/products/films/bw/bwFilmQAs.pdf?id=0.2.22.14.17.14.6&lc=en

 

[Ian Grant]

This seems to indicate a fight back by the film division and is great news. It is interesting that the press release makes quite a mention of their professional customer survey.

John Sexton's comments about the film are extremely encouraging, it was his very accurate and informative articles in Darkroom Techniques over 20 years ago that encouraged me to switch to using Tmax 100, and also the 400.

So its a refreshing bright side to our use of film.

Ian

 

[Fotohuis]

Interesting news, I almost thought the big yellow giant had fallen asleep......

 

[DeanC]

In light of the tmx update a few years ago, it's encouraging to see that they're explicitly saying that the sheet film won't be UV opaque (the 35mm and 120 will).

 

[Jedidiah Smith]

Anything good coming out of Kodak is wonderful. I used to shoot all Kodak film exclusively...then they quit producing B&W paper, and that threw me for a ringer... Oh well. But that is in the past.
If Tmax400 is now the best 400 speed film (and it was pretty good before) I'll be all for supporting Kodak's film division to fight back!
Yeah baby...keep it coming!
Jed

 

[PHOTOTONE]

I imagine this is the new sensitization technology used in their Movie films stocks, and more recently in the Portra series of color neg films, now making its way into the b/w films. Since the claim, is as for the Portra films, finer grain.

 

[pentaxuser]

.. and that would be great to read in B&W mag [UK]

Roger. And/or a paid for module on the RogerandFrancesPhotography site. I too look forward to reading your review. I might even buy whichever mag it appeared in. Thanks

pentaxuser

 

[lajolla]

Great News. I'm eager to burn through some 35mm rolls as soon as the new yellow boxes are available to us out here in Southern Cal. The Kodak website states that this new stock will be available at retail stores on a turnover basis starting in December. Likewise, there will also be a new TMY factsheet released on their website soon, F-4043, with all relevant processing info. Again these surprising 'developments' at Kodak are extremely welcome!

 

[Photo Engineer]

They should not be surprising. I've said here before that Kodak continues to do R&D on analog materials. The problem is that the bang for buck is going down due to analog being a rather mature field of research.

Therefore, the new stuff is coming out, but more slowly than before, and also at a reduced rate to match the decline in the market.

PE

 

[Alex Hawley]

Great news! This may be the last excuse I need to start converting to Tmax 400.

And maybe there's still hope as PE says. Quoting from the Kodak press release:

Although professional photographers acknowledge that digital cameras offer certain benefits, they said that film better captures certain images, particularly black-and-white photos.

 

[Scott Peters]

They should not be surprising. I've said here before that Kodak continues to do R&D on analog materials. The problem is that the bang for buck is going down due to analog being a rather mature field of research.

Therefore, the new stuff is coming out, but more slowly than before, and also at a reduced rate to match the decline in the market.

PE

Glass half full! Good news!

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Although professional photographers acknowledge that digital cameras offer certain benefits, they said that film better captures certain images, particularly black-and-white photos.

Well, yes, but the particular weakness of T-Max films is the spectral sensitivity that resembles B&W video or digital B&W.

 

[IloveTLRs]

Great! TMAX is my favorite B&W film right now

A sales guy at Calumet in Cambridge, MA told me that TMAX 400 is the only true 400 speed ... wonder what that meant?

 

[Michael Kadillak]

Will we be seeing something nice in a size 7x17 yellow?

John Powers

Yes. With some great contacts and assistance, we found a new sponsor for the ULF sheet film deal (post J&C) and contracts between this entity and Kodak are being prepared as we speak. We postponed making the formal announcement about the structure of the deal after being informed of the improvement to TMY. Considering the serious commitment necessary to bring this deal forward we took a break from the festivities to make sure that the new film is the real deal. I am happy to say that it is and we are moving forward. More to come shortly.

Cheers!

 

[photo8x10]

Great News!!! I'm very happy because Tmax 400 is one of my favourite film!

 

[Roger Hicks]

Roger. And/or a paid for module on the RogerandFrancesPhotography site. I too look forward to reading your review. I might even buy whichever mag it appeared in. Thanks

pentaxuser

Shutterbig has already agreed a review; Frances is waiting to hear from David Corfield; and we'll certainly give it some thought for the site.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

Well, yes, but the particular weakness of T-Max films is the spectral sensitivity that resembles B&W video or digital B&W.

I've always noticed the same thing (which is why I never use them), but then I look at John Sexton's print and they are anything but...

Although, given that it's 2007 and this is an updated B&W film, I'm tempted to try it.

 

[GeoffHill]

Will there be a way to tell from the box if you are using new or old Tmax400. I'm looking forward to trying this, as I normally use 400 speed film